New Jersey - No More "Drunk Droning"

In what is certainly a ‘sign of the times’, the state of New Jersey will introduce legislation making it punishable by law to operate a drone while drunk.

With drone sales topping $1billion and demand soaring, it was only a matter of time of course until some regulatory rules would be introduced given that accidents are bound to happen, but many drone-enthusiasts are at the same time fearful for an ‘overreach’ by authorities.

Mr. John Sullivan is a drone buff who’s been flying them for several years. “It’s basically like flying a blender,”

New Jersey’s Assembly is bound to vote on a Senate-approved bill to ban drunk or drugged droning and at the same time banning them from flying over prisons or in pursuit of wildlife.

With this regulation, New Jersey is among some 38 US states that are considering restrictions on the devices, including Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">New Jersey Law makers set to ban flying a drone while drunk. Claiming the machines are basically &quot;flying blenders.&quot; Intoxicated adventurers will still be allowed to operate an actual flying blender should you have one.</p>&mdash; Tim Hanlon (@TimfromDa70s) <a href="https://twitter.com/TimfromDa70s/status/949431339635245057?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 6, 2018</a></blockquote>

So far, nine states have already introduced legislation prohibiting drones from flying over or near prisons, including Arizona, Louisiana, Nevada, North Carolina, Oregon, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and Wisconsin.

Back in July of last year, a drone carried wire cutters and a mobile phone into a prison in South Carolina.